Pasadena and UCLA Lawyers to Return to Court Wednesday Over Rose Bowl Lease

Lawyers for the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Company are scheduled to appear in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday, Sept. 2, along with attorneys for the Regents of the University of California, for a case-management conference in the lawsuit over UCLA’s football lease at the city-owned Rose Bowl.

The conference is expected to address scheduling and additional discovery. It will not decide whether UCLA must play its home football games in Pasadena through June 30, 2044, the date the city says the lease runs to. Judge Joseph Lipner continued a previously scheduled conference to Sept. 2 while weighing remaining motions.

The city and the operating company, the nonprofit that runs the stadium for the city, allege UCLA moved to relocate its home games to SoFi Stadium in breach of a 2010 agreement. They contend the potential harm could exceed a billion dollars. UCLA has denied breaching the lease. Mary Osako, UCLA’s vice chancellor for strategic communications, said in October 2025 that “no decision has been made” about the long-term arrangement for home games.

Lipner denied motions by UCLA and the SoFi Stadium defendants to compel arbitration on Feb. 5.

On June 4 he allowed five of the six claims to proceed, dismissing a promissory estoppel claim. Published reports in July indicated the city and the operating company had entered settlement talks with UCLA, which neither party has confirmed.

City spokeswoman Lisa Derderian said, “We cannot comment on pending litigation.”